Phil Houck always wears the same outfit when he goes in for a dip at the beach: a tux shirt, a bow tie and a pair of black swim trunks.

“It’s the only day I go into the water,” Houck said of the 24th Annual Penguin Swim in Ocean City. The event benefits Atlantic General Hospital.

Houck is the founder of Bull on the Beach, a restaurant just blocks from where the swim is held and the title sponsor of the Penguin Swim. His team was one of many who attended the ritual winter dunk on New Year’s Day.

“Part of the reason it started was because there was nothing to do on New Year’s Day,” Houck said. “You get up at 9 or 10 a.m., then what do you do all day?”

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Two swimmers high five after plunging in the ocean during the 24th Annual Penguin Swim near the Princess Royale Hotel in Ocean City on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018.(Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)

With a wind chill in the teens, most of the hundreds of participating penguins didin't wait for the official 1 p.m. start to plunge into the 39-degree ocean.

It’s Michael Franklin’s favorite moment.

“When everyone is running into the ocean together,” said Franklin, president and CEO of Atlantic General Hospital. “There’s lots of energy, lots of screaming. This is not a day to be normal.”

Mermen (glitter and long flowing white wig included), various superheroes and other funky costumes made an appearance.

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A woman awaits the start of the 24th Annual Penguin Swim in costume near the Princess Royale Hotel in Ocean City on Monday, Jan. 1, 2018. (Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)

Fred Flintstone and Captain America (or as some would know them, Charlie and Gene Hutson from Silver Spring) said the annual swim is tradition.

“It’s a great charity and it makes us remember not to do it again until next year,” Gene said. He added it takes them about one year to forget how cold the water was before signing up for the next one.

The bitter air could be seen and felt everywhere: a man jumped up and down, wide-eyed and repeatedly declaring, “It’s cold!” Another man yelled expletives as he sprinted into the ocean. A little boy looked down at his hands, pink and plump from the ocean.

Joy Stokes, the foundation’s event coordinator, said this may be the coldest swim they’ve had. Indeed, the Dewey Dunk, the Dewey Ball Drop and the Fenwick Freeze were canceled due to frigid winds and subfreezing temperatures.